Politics at the Water's Edge: the Presidency, Congress, and The
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Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 6-18-2010 Politics at the Water's Edge: The rP esidency, Congress, and the North Korea Policy of the United States Taehyung Ahn Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI10081211 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Ahn, Taehyung, "Politics at the Water's Edge: The rP esidency, Congress, and the North Korea Policy of the United States" (2010). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 252. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/252 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida POLITICS AT THE WATER’S EDGE: THE PRESIDENCY, CONGRESS, AND THE NORTH KOREA POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Taehyung Ahn 2010 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Taehyung Ahn, and entitled Politics at the Water's Edge: The Presidency, Congress, and the North Korea Policy of the United States, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Nicholas G. Onuf _______________________________________ Mohiaddin Mesbahi _______________________________________ Steven Heine _______________________________________ Paul A. Kowert, Major Professor Date of Defense: June 18, 2010 The dissertation of Taehyung Ahn is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Interim Dean Kevin O’Shea University Graduate School Florida International University, 2010 ii © Copyright 2010 by Taehyung Ahn All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my mother. Without her patience, understanding, support, and most of all love, the completion of this work would not have been possible. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and help from my family, teachers, and friends. I wish to thank the members of my committee: Dr. Nicholas Onuf, Dr. Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Dr. Steven Heine for their support, patience, and guidance. Finally, I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Paul Kowert, for his going the extra mile in sparing no pains for my work. I also wish to thank the faculty members and the staff members of Department of Politics and International Relations: Dr. John Clark, Dr. Francois Debrix, Dr. Roderick Neumann, Dr. Elizabeth Prugl, Dr. Thomas Breslin, and Dr. Sarah Poggione, Michelle Real, Martha Rodriguez, Luz Aviles, Teresa Grullon, Lany Munoz, Kathy Hasselbach, and Mary Cossio. Additionally, I wish to thank my friends: Dr. Harry Gould, Dr. Majid Al-Khalili, Dr. Bongman Seo, Mita Saksena, Steve Amrol, Hamid Serri, Yukari Ito, Jungtaek Seo, Jihyun Jeon, Sanghoon Han, Hansin Kim, Sunghyuk Moon, Dr. Hoieun Kim, Dr. Yongwook Lee, Dr. Jongkun Choi, Jen, Sal, Changsuk Oh, Seunghoi Kim, Dr. Inkwon Bang, Dr. Kyungnam Han, Dr. Sangki Lee, Dr. Leung Kim, Dr. Maree Lee, Dr. Chanho Chae, Jintae Kim, Seungwoo Je, Myongkon Kim, Youna Jung, and Jonghee Park. Finally, I wish to thank my family: my mother, Jaehyung, Eunyoung, Woosung, Joohyung, Youngjoo, Dohyun, Myongja Lee, Wonjoon Lee, and my forever love Annie. v ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION POLITICS AT THE WATER’S EDGE: THE PRESIDENCY, CONGRESS, AND THE NORTH KOREA POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES by Taehyung Ahn Florida International University, 2010 Miami, Florida Professor Paul A. Kowert, Major Professor For all their efforts to avoid a nuclear North Korea, the Clinton and Bush administrations failed to achieve this goal, the most important policy objective of the United States in its relations with North Korea for decades, mainly because of inconsistencies in U.S. policy. This dissertation seeks to explain why both administrations ultimately failed to prevent North Korea from going nuclear. It finds the origins of this failure in the implementation of different U.S. policy options toward North Korea during the Clinton and Bush administrations. To explain the lack of policy consistency, the dissertation investigates how the relations between the executive and the legislative branches and, more specifically, different government types—unified government and divided government—have affected U.S. policy toward North Korea. It particularly emphasizes the role of Congress and partisan politics in the making of U.S. policy toward North Korea. This study finds that divided government played a pivotal role. Partisan politics are also central to the explanation: politics did not stop at the water’s edge. A divided U.S. vi government produced more status quo policies toward North Korea than a unified U.S. government, while a unified government produced more active policies than a divided government. Moreover, a unified government with a Republican President produced more aggressive policies toward North Korea, whereas a unified government with a Democratic President produced more conciliatory policies. This study concludes that the different government types and intensified partisan politics were the main causes of the inconsistencies in the United States’ North Korea policy that led to a nuclear North Korea. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. U.S. Policy on Nuclear Nonproliferation in General 5 1.2. U.S. Policy on North Korean Nuclear Nonproliferation 7 II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH DESIGN 13 2.1. The Debate on Unified Government vs. Divided Government 13 2.2. Research Design 26 2.3. Conclusion 38 III. AMERICAN POLITICS AND FOREIGN POLICY 39 3.1. The Constitutional and Institutional Foundation of U.S. Foreign Policy 39 3.2. A Historical Overview of Divided Government 48 3.3. Conclusion 63 IV. THE PRESIDENCY, THE CONGRESS, AND U.S. POLICY TOWARD NORTH KOREA DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION 65 4.1. The Clinton Administration under Unified Government (1993-1994) 65 4.1.1. U.S. Policy toward North Korea during the Clinton Administration (1993-1994) 66 4.1.2. Presidency vs. Congress: Overview 73 4.1.3. Presidency vs. Congress: North Korea 76 4.2. The Clinton Administration under Divided Government (1995-2000) 80 4.2.1. U.S. Policy toward North Korea during the Clinton Administration (1995-2000) 81 4.2.2. Presidency vs. Congress: Overview 84 4.2.3. Presidency vs. Congress: North Korea 99 4.3. Conclusion 115 V. THE PRESIDENCY, THE CONGRESS, AND U.S. POLICY TOWARD NORTH KOREA DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION 117 5.1. The Bush Administration under Unified Government (2001-2006) 117 5.1.1. U.S. Policy toward North Korea during the Bush Administration (2001-2006) 118 5.1.2. Presidency vs. Congress: Overview 130 5.1.3. Presidency vs. Congress: North Korea 141 5.2. The Bush Administration under Divided Government (2007-2008) 147 5.2.1. U.S. Policy toward North Korea during the Bush Administration (2007-2008) 148 5.2.2. Presidency vs. Congress: Overview 151 5.2.3. Presidency vs. Congress: North Korea 156 5.3. Conclusion 158 viii VI. CONCLUSION 159 LIST OF REFERENCES 167 APPENDICES 183 VITA 201 ix LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. The Types of the U.S. Government, 1993-2008 34 2. The Government Types and North Korea Policy Outcomes, 1993-2008 36 3. Congressional Paths to Foreign Policy Influence 43 4. Divided Government since 1825 55 5. Phases of Divided Government in American History 58 6. Contract With America Scorecard 91 7. Executive Expenditures on KEDO vs. Congressional Appropriations, 1996-2002 103 8. U.S. Government Types and U.S. North Korea Policy 162 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CVID Complete, Verifiable, Irreversible Dismantlement DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea HEU Highly Enriched Uranium IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency KEDO Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization LWR Light-Water Moderated Reactor NKHRA North Korean Human Rights Act NPT Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons NSSUSA National Security Strategy of the United States of America PL Public Law PSI Proliferation Security Initiative UNSC United Nation’s Security Council WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction WPA War Powers Act xi I. INTRODUCTION The denuclearization of North Korea (officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK), the most important policy objective in U.S.-North Korea relations during the Clinton and Bush administrations, ultimately turned out to be a failure when Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.1 Both the William J. Clinton administration (1993-2000) and the George W. Bush administration (2001-2008) worked hard in an effort to avoid a nuclear North Korea. In so doing, they adopted a variety of policies toward North Korea, ranging from a possible use of military force to a negotiated settlement. Despite many years of hard work, however, their efforts did not prevent North Korean nuclearization. During the first nuclear crisis between the United States and North Korea in 1993- 94, President Clinton decided to negotiate with Kim Il Sung, the North Korean leader, after seriously considering a surgical air strike against to Yongbyon, the suspected nuclear site in North Korea. Clinton’s decision to negotiate with North Korea resulted in the conclusion of the Geneva Agreement in 1994 that temporarily defused the crisis. Although Clinton continued to try to solve the North Korean nuclear issue diplomatically, he failed to fully live up to the 1994 Geneva Agreement, and to take further steps necessary for the improvement in the U.S.-North Korean relations including the normalization of the relationship between the two countries. 1 North Korea also conducted a second nuclear test during the Obama administration in May, 2009.